TV through my PC?
Discussion
So here’s the story,
I have a 20in TFT monitor on my PC. Is there any way I can have the TV coming through my monitor? Also could I interface the PC sound with my home cinema system?
What boards would I need? It just seems pointless to have a 20 widescreen and another TV right next to it
Cheers
Nick
I have a 20in TFT monitor on my PC. Is there any way I can have the TV coming through my monitor? Also could I interface the PC sound with my home cinema system?
What boards would I need? It just seems pointless to have a 20 widescreen and another TV right next to it
Cheers
Nick
Several options.
If your TFT monitor is anything like mine, it has several inputs including S-Video, so you could simply conenct the output of a TV to your monitor. Mine even has picture-in-picture, which is nice.
Alternatively you could fit any one of the number of TV cards that are on the market, although these will only give you terrestrial TV so are of little use.
You could also fit a video capture card (or replace your graphics card with one with VIVO capability)
If your TFT monitor is anything like mine, it has several inputs including S-Video, so you could simply conenct the output of a TV to your monitor. Mine even has picture-in-picture, which is nice.
Alternatively you could fit any one of the number of TV cards that are on the market, although these will only give you terrestrial TV so are of little use.
You could also fit a video capture card (or replace your graphics card with one with VIVO capability)
wingchundave said:
Be aware that if you get a TV card you still require a TV license.
Yep well I understand that, plus I will still have 3 other TV in the house.
The idea is that I get rid of the other TV and just use my monitor, so I don’t really want to have any leads coming from the TV.
Having done this myself recently, I would be asking the question: How good is your reception? Will you have it connected to a roof aeriel? If you are going to connect it to an indoor aeriel then I'd probably say that you are best off getting a video capture card and getting an external box that is known to be good with low quality signals.
What these are i dont know, but i'm sure there will be someone on PH who knows about these things who will chime in. Alternatively, have a look on www.avforums.com or www.avtalk.co.uk
If you can get a good signal though, it might be worthwhile to get a dedicated card, which is what I did. However, these tend to need a good signal, as i've found out to my cost. Nevertheless i can still get the main channels ok, just. The card itself is an excellent piece of kit though, its the Nebula DigiTV card and is easy to use and set up, and comes with a remote, and lets you listen to radio and record to your PC's hard drive.
What these are i dont know, but i'm sure there will be someone on PH who knows about these things who will chime in. Alternatively, have a look on www.avforums.com or www.avtalk.co.uk
If you can get a good signal though, it might be worthwhile to get a dedicated card, which is what I did. However, these tend to need a good signal, as i've found out to my cost. Nevertheless i can still get the main channels ok, just. The card itself is an excellent piece of kit though, its the Nebula DigiTV card and is easy to use and set up, and comes with a remote, and lets you listen to radio and record to your PC's hard drive.
Extra 300 Driver said:Ok, well that limits some of the options.
The idea is that I get rid of the other TV and just use my monitor, so I don’t really want to have any leads coming from the TV.
In that case, you could purchase (poss second hand) a standalone tuner as used by some plasma screens and either connect it directly to your monitor or else via your PC (see my earlier post - I'm not typing it again
) Another option is cabling (or a wireless link) from a TV in another room instead of the standalone box.
Either way, you need a feed from somewhere.
Edit: Another option that occurs to me is a freeview box, assuming you have freeview in your area. Again, this would connect either directly to your monitor or else via your PC.
>> Edited by JonRB on Friday 29th July 10:03
JonRB said:
Edit: Another option that occurs to me is a freeview box, assuming you have freeview in your area. Again, this would connect either directly to your monitor or else via your PC.
It would need to have a built in RF modulator (rare) or you would need to connect via an external RF Modulator (can be had for about £30-£50) unless your pcmonitor has scart.
Cheers
Paul
You can get both freeview and sky PCI cards that will fit in you 'puter and allow you to view and record progs onto your PC (using software like show shifter).
www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=9272262309&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=12356
www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=9272262309&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=28470
As for music you can either set up a wireless connection so that you PC broadcasts the music or have the PC as a media centre.
www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=9272262309&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=12356
www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=9272262309&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=28470
As for music you can either set up a wireless connection so that you PC broadcasts the music or have the PC as a media centre.
I'm about to do a similar thing, run my PC through a projector
The thing is I only want 1 lead going to the projector if at all possible
My AV amp can do all the required input switching (s-video) so the question
Can these TV or graphics cards give standard computer output (windows etc) via s-video or should I use the stadard monitor output, and then connect to the amp (would need to be upgraded) or run 2 cables to the projector (I want to avoid that if possible)
The thing is I only want 1 lead going to the projector if at all possible
My AV amp can do all the required input switching (s-video) so the question
Can these TV or graphics cards give standard computer output (windows etc) via s-video or should I use the stadard monitor output, and then connect to the amp (would need to be upgraded) or run 2 cables to the projector (I want to avoid that if possible)
gopher said:How many monitors have RF-in?
Edit: Another option that occurs to me is a freeview box, assuming you have freeview in your area. Again, this would connect either directly to your monitor or else via your PC.
My point was that if his monitor had video-in (and mine does via a s-video connector) then the output of the freeview box could be connected to this.
BTW, SCART is not the only way of deliverying a video signal. A standard phono connector can be used, as can s-video mini plug. In fact, SCART is often the least preferable connector for quality connection.
>> Edited by JonRB on Friday 29th July 10:57
Incorrigible said:Some graphics cards have s-video TV-out, which would probably be your best bet unless your projector has a DVI connector.
Can these TV or graphics cards give standard computer output (windows etc) via s-video or should I use the stadard monitor output, and then connect to the amp (would need to be upgraded) or run 2 cables to the projector (I want to avoid that if possible)
JonRB said:Projector and tv/graphics card haven't been bought yet
Some graphics cards have s-video TV-out, which would probably be your best bet unless your projector has a DVI connector.
I have been reccomended DVI input for the projector but I'm put off as the amps that can do DVI or HDMI switching are prohibitively expensive
Does windows etc look alright on an s-video signal ?? I appreciate this may be difficult to answer objectively
IvIark said:I've got a USB version of that. Works pretty well. Picked it up on e-Bay quite cheaply. Software is a bit wobbly, but works well most of the time. I also picked up a video projector off e-Bay. It has VGA and s-video input. So far I've driven the kit from a laptop ... works OK for TV and DVD. One of these days I'll get round to building a mini-itx PC for it which will have better a sound card.
I've got a Hauppauge Nove-t PCI card and it's superb. Added advantage of being able to pick up the Freeview channels and also to record them easily to your hard drive and increase your home DVD collection. You also get digital radio through it.
ATG said:
I've got a USB version of that. Works pretty well. Picked it up on e-Bay quite cheaply. Software is a bit wobbly, but works well most of the time.
I had problems at first with the software but it was all down to my firewall because the card wasn't set up as a trusted network device. Since then it's been faultless. What version of software are you using because the earlier versions were quite buggy but the latest seems spot on.
I quite fancied the USB version as well for my laptop for travel. Do you know how well it works with portable aerials?
ATG said:That's the sort of thing I'm aiming for
I also picked up a video projector off e-Bay. It has VGA and s-video input. So far I've driven the kit from a laptop ... works OK for TV and DVD. One of these days I'll get round to building a mini-itx PC for it which will have better a sound card.
Do you run the pc through the s-video or the VGA, I'm trying to avoid switching the video input in more than one place
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